In the first installment of my 2019 Free Agency Profile series, I look at the most prized player to potentially hit the market in a long time.
With Free Agency beginning in less than a month at the time this was written, now is a better time than any to take a dive into the 2019 class and what each notable player can potentially bring to the Philadelphia Flyers. This offseason series will run until the July 1st start date, with plenty of profiles to come during that span. There isn’t a whole lot of top-end talent this year, but one clearly stands out from the bunch; defenseman Erik Karlsson.
The former Ottawa Senators blue-liner dealt with injuries throughout the 2018-19 season with the San Jose Sharks, which was on display during their Stanley Cup Playoff run as he missed Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues of the Western Conference Final. Following the Sharks postseason elimination, Karlsson underwent successful groin surgery and will rehab over the summer. He’s only played an entire 82 game campaign in three of his ten-year NHL career, with the last happening in 2015-16. Karlsson isn’t getting any younger, either, as he just turned 29 on May 31st, making his durability a significant concern.
There isn’t one player on the market that possesses Karlsson’s world-class ability, though. The 6’0, right-handed defenseman posted 45 points (3 Goals, 42 Assists) in 53 games with San Jose this past season and has scored at least 40 points from the blue-line in eight of the last ten years. He also has terrific puck-possession metrics at even-strength, leading the Sharks in both Corsi-For (CF%) and Fenwick-For (FF%) percentages while never having either metric go below the 50.0% mark during his NHL tenure, outside of a 49.9 FF% in 2010-11. There isn’t a single thing this guy can’t do on the ice, arguably making him the best d-man the NHL has to offer.
Is there a possibility San Jose retains his services? Sure. The tweet he sent out at the end of their postseason run wasn’t too promising, and the Sharks have plenty of other Free Agents to bring back, as well. Guys like Timo Meier, Joe Pavelski, Kevin Labanc, Joe Thornton, Gustav Nyquist, and Joonas Donskoi aren’t going to come cheap, giving them tough decisions to make when it comes to their cap situation and who they retain.
General Manager Chuck Fletcher made it know he wants to add a veteran d-man this summer and, for that reason, should obviously make a run at Karlsson if he makes it to the market in July. He’ll have plenty of competition, though, with the former first-round pick reportedly hoping to receive offers from the Senators and Montreal Canadiens. It wouldn’t hurt to try, and Fletcher should, at the very least, throw an offer at the future Hall-of-Famer no matter what the cost may be.